The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in priority Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-173669, filed on Jun. 8, 2001, the contents of which is herein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capacitor that is used in various types of electronic equipment, and particularly relates to a capacitor provided with a terminal block for outside connection.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional capacitor of this kind will be described, with references to the drawings.
FIG. 9 is a front view showing a conventional capacitor. FIG. 10A is a plan view and FIG. 10B is a front view, showing a sealing plate of the conventional capacitor. FIG. 11 is a front view showing a state with the capacitor mounted onto a circuit board.
In FIG. 9 through FIG. 11, a metallic case 21 of cylindrical form with bottom accommodates a capacitor element (not shown) along with electrolyte solution. A sealing plate 22 seals the opening of the metallic case 21. A pair of terminal blocks 23 are provided integrally with the sealing plate 22 by insert molding, and a threaded portion 24 is provided in the terminal block 23. Reference numeral 25 denotes a circuit board, and a mounting plate 26 is provided on the circuit board 25, for mounting the capacitor. Reference numeral 27 denotes a mounting screw for screwing-on and fastening the capacitor, with the mounting plate 26 interposed therebetween. Reference numeral 28 denotes other electronic components mounted onto the circuit board 25.
The conventional capacitor with such a constitution is fastened by screwing together the mounting screw 27 onto the threaded portion 24 of the terminal block 23, with the mounting plate 26 interposed therebetween, and mounted onto the circuit board 25 along with the other electronic components 28.
The reason why the capacitor is mounted onto the circuit board 25 sideways, is that this is a common practice to suppress height and pursue a low-profile shape, and has become a generalized designing method in recent times.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional capacitor, the threaded portion 24 of the terminal block 23 was constituted to have its central axis to be in the vertical direction relative to the sealing plate 22. Hence, it was difficult to insert the mounting screw 27 into the threaded portion 24, and even more difficult to tighten the inserted mounting screw 27, when the capacitor is mounted onto the circuit board 25 adjacent to another electronic component 28, as shown in FIG. 11. It was not possible to use a mounting screw 27 provided with crossheads, which could be tightened easily using a Phillips-head screwdriver. It could only use a bolt with a hexagonal head, which was tightened by a wrench. Hence, there was a problem in which the types of components that could be used were limited, and also a problem of workability being bad.
In light of the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a capacitor which is easily mounted on a circuit board.
A capacitor of the present invention has a capacitor element accommodated along with electrolyte solution inside a metallic case. The capacitor element is provided with leads of positive and negative electrodes. The capacitor also includes a sealing plate for sealing the opening of the metallic case. The sealing plate is provided with a pair of terminal blocks that has a threaded portion for outside connection, and a connecting portion, onto which the lead of the capacitor element is connected. The capacitor has a center axis of the threaded portion made to be parallel to a planar portion of the sealing plate. With this constitution, there are no obstacles near the threaded portion, because the center axis of the threaded portion is orthogonal to the circuit board when mounting this capacitor onto the circuit board sideways. Accordingly, there is an action and effect that it becomes very easy to conduct the series of operation, from the insertion to the tightening of the mounting screw.
In the above-described capacitor, it is preferred that the center axes of the threaded portions provided in the pair of terminal blocks be made to intersect orthogonal to a line mutually connecting both of the central portions of the terminal blocks. It is also preferred that both of these center axes be made to be parallel to each other.
While novel features of the invention are set forth in the preceding, the invention, both as to organization and content, can be further understood and appreciated, along with other objects and features thereof, from the following detailed description and examples when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.